Access Bank UK hosted a fundraising event in London to renew its partnership with Fifth Chukker, UNICEF and the Kaduna State Government for expanding educational access to vulnerable children in Nigeria. The initiative, known as Access UK Polo Day, marks over 15 years of collaboration focused on improving learning outcomes in underserved communities across Northern Nigeria. Central to the effort is the Access Bank Fifth Chukker School in Kaduna State, which has supported more than 14,000 children since inception. Between 2018 and 2026, the school recorded 2,538 graduates, over half of whom were girls, contributing to improved gender inclusion in education. Each year, more than 1,000 pupils participate in the school's foundational learning programme, which has led to a 15 per cent increase in learning performance in literacy and numeracy. Students consistently gain admission into top secondary schools, while teachers receive continuous professional training and digital learning tools. Infrastructure upgrades and expanded learning materials have strengthened the school's capacity to deliver quality education.
Roosevelt Ogbonna, Managing Director and CEO of Access Bank Plc, said the vision started with 100 children and now aims to reach 28,000 by next year. He described education as the greatest equaliser and thanked donors for sustaining the project's intergenerational impact. Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani affirmed education as a critical societal investment and revealed that about 300,000 out-of-school children had been re-enrolled in the past year through partnerships with UNICEF and other development agencies. He announced plans to build 120 additional classrooms at the Fifth Chukker Access Bank UNICEF School to accommodate more learners. Governor Sani also honoured the late Herbert Wigwe for his leadership and dedication to education reform. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, Chairman of Access Holdings, stressed that success is measured by opportunities created, not buildings built. Jamie Simmonds, CEO of Access Bank UK, called the event "polo with purpose," aligning sport with a mission to drive educational change.
Roosevelt Ogbonna pledges to double the number of beneficiaries to 28,000 children by 2026, even though the current figure of 14,000 covers more than a decade of work. The projected leap assumes a pace of expansion that has not yet been demonstrated. Governor Sani's claim of returning 300,000 out-of-school children to classrooms relies on partnerships that depend on foreign fundraising events like this one. If local funding and policy consistency cannot sustain such numbers, the long-term survival of these gains rests on unpredictable goodwill.
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